Indentured (Book 2 of the Dana Halliday series)

GODWIN AND ALL THAT. KNEEL BEFORE ZOD. SNOW LEOPARD.

There wasn't much else to Liti's story, as Kez had refused to tell her how or why she had been abducted from her homeworld. She had been imprisoned by him ever since, and she didn't seem to want to tell me more. We had pretty much exhausted the limits of our communication at that point, anyway. My head still hurt so badly I overcame both my sense of propriety and my own needle squeamishness, and gave myself some stronger pain medication.

I lapsed into a daze on the sofa, wishing I could tell if we were moving. Liti remained on the chair, silent and watchful. Once, she got up and, over my objections, examined me, touching my face and smelling my breath. I realized she thought of me as a patient, and I stopped protesting; it probably distracted her from her current situation. I could dig that.

The whoosh of the door brought me back to full consciousness. One of the Sturv servants entered, carrying a tray of food and followed by Wys.

"Wow." My voice came out calm and bleary. "Daddy gave you the fast car this time, huh?"

Wys only gazed at me, unmoved. "It wasn't a long trip. We're moving away now."

"Going where?"

The servant set the tray on the table. It refused to look at any of us while it did so, then scurried away without even asking Wys's leave. Neither Liti nor I made a move to touch the food, though the Fenn's nostrils flared. "To Tirza 50, if you must know."

"Great." I sat up and wobbled, my head spinning a bit. Liti was at my side immediately, but I waved her off. "What's on Tirza 50?"

"You've been there."

"Barely." I poured myself a glass of water and sipped it, wincing. "Ow."

Wys leaned against an armchair, crossing her arms in a very human-like way. "I'm sorry about your nose. I was just doing my job, you understand."

"Of course. Similar to how you killed my friend. I'd compare you to a Nazi, but you wouldn't get the reference. And anyway, I've always thought Nazi comparisons were in poor taste. Godwin and all that."

"I didn't kill your friend."

I groaned. "Where I come from, it's usually politicians spouting bullshit like that."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean, if you put a person in a situation where they're likely to die, you've killed them, just as much as if you did it with your own hands."

Wys seemed to sigh. She moved around and sat in the chair. Liti raised her lips into a snarl and sat herself on my other side, in between me and the captain. "Calm down, little one." She still spoke English. "They kind of...grow on you, don't they, these Fenn? Like pets?"

I only glowered at her.

"Dr. Halliday." Every syllable was deliberate. "Dana. I did not kill your friend, sister."

"But Kez told you to-"

"I did exactly as I was told."

I cast my mind back. It was a little fuzzy, probably due to the bump on the head. "Where was the nearest place with an atmosphere?"

Wys didn't answer, but she smiled.

I stared at the carpet for a few moments, sternly telling the lump in my throat to go away. "Did Kez tell you to tell me that?" I kept the shake out of my voice.

"No."

I lifted my head. "If you're lying to me, I will fucking end you." Apparently, I had an untapped well of aggression somewhere within me.